Happy Poetry Friday! It’s helpful to the spirit to share poems at a time like this.
Michele Kogan is our host today so stop by her website. You will find not only wonderful spring poetry from the recent issue of Michele Heinrich Barnes’ Today’s Little Ditty, but also Michele Kogan’s paintings full of flowers that are sure to take the sting out of current times.
I love daffodils. Many do, of course. In the early 19th century, William Wordsworth took a walk with his sister in England’s Lake District. There, he was inspired by Wild Daffodils to write one of the most well known poems about this stunning yellow flower ever written in the English language.
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD
by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
(Read entire poem here)
But even though I love daffodils, I found that I actually didn’t know any facts about them. The scientific name for the wild daffodil is Narcissus Pseudonarcissus. I grows from a bulb but I was unaware that the flower made seeds that can produce a flowering plant within a decade.
I also didn’t know that the bulb and leaves happen to be poisonous. They contain the alkaloid lycorine which causes nausea and GI distress. According to a BBC report a class of 30 primary school children learned this first hand while they made vegetable soup as a class project. Because a daffodil bulb was mistaken for an onion, 12 kids were sent to the hospital. But the story ended happily. None were seriously ill.
The freedom I feel walking outside is irresistable, especially now. Today I spied daffodils breaking the soil.
Daffodils are ubiquitous here in Upstate New York. That’s because deer do not eat them (because their poisonous?) and with so many deer sharing our space, most gardeners plant flowers that won’t tempt them.
It takes some chutzpah, I think, to break through the soil not knowing what waits on the other side. Today it was clear skies for these dependable, brave, yearly visitors to our world.
Though blind, green shoots crack muddy soil--What's ahead courageous flower?
I hope everyone can get outside in a safe place and enjoy the weekend. Thank you Michelle Kogan for hosting!